Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl: How To Breed Better With Ditto

Ditto is the lynchpin for easy Pokemon breeding, and that continues to be the case in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. Like all the Pokemon games, you can breed Pokemon to produce eggs to make new Pokemon, and only compatible Pokemon can breed together. The only universal Pokemon that can breed with anyone and anything is Ditto — and a Ditto with great stats can pass those stats on to the next generation. We’re not worried about making truly top-tier Pokemon here. This is just to get you started on your Pokemon breeding journey. Here’s how to make Pokemon breeding simple, even for the newbies out there.

More Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl guides:

How To Breed With Ditto | Easy Breeding Guide

Before you begin, there are certain items you’ll want that will make breeding better. These are the three items that are basically required for breeding competitive Pokemon. You can take these items or leave them. The idea is to get the best possible Pokemon, breed them to pass down their best traits, and make yourself a truly formidable Pokemon.

Everstone: When breeding, Pokemon holding this stone will always pass down its Nature. Found in Snowpoint City — go to the home where the lady wants to trade Medicham for a Haunter. Trade and you’ll find an Everstone as a Held Item.
Destiny Knot: When breeding, Pokemon holding this item will always pass down 5 IVs from the parents. Found on Route 224, in the northern area.
Oval Charm: Increases spawn %% of eggs when breeding at the nursery. Found in Hotel Grand Lake. Defeat the Trainer Morimoto in the pool. Only available after beating the Elite Four.

All of this is helpful but not required if you just want to breed Pokemon for fun. The Oval Charm makes breeding easier, so that’s the one you’ll want to go for out of these three. For basic farming, you’ll also want a Pokemon with the Flame Body ability. Flame Body causes eggs to hatch faster when breeding.

How To Get Flame Body: The Flame Body ability appears on Magcargo. You can catch Magcargo on Stark Mountain in the postgame area.

So, for post-Elite Four breeding, if you’re a beginner, you’ll want to get Magcargo with Flame Body and the Oval Charm. Next, you’ll want to catch a Ditto.

Ditto | The Easiest Pokemon For Breeding

Ditto is the easiest breeder Pokemon because it is compatible with all Pokemon. Placing Ditto in the Nursery will allow any Pokemon to produce an egg.

How To Catch A Ditto: Route 218 – And like Magcargo, this is a National Pokedex Pokemon, so you’ll need to defeat the Elite Four and acquire the National Pokedex before you can claim this Pokemon.
- Ditto will only appear if you use the Pokeradar. Enter the shaking tall grass to find one.

While IVs are important for competitive play, if you’re a casual breeder, you might not care that much about your Ditto’s IVs. The trick is to catch a Ditto with 4 perfect IVs. You can check IVs in a Pokemon’s stat menu — IVs basically show the individual growth rate of your Pokemon’s stats. You’ll (hopefully) want a Ditto with at least 4 perfect IVs, but if you’re like me, 6 okay-to-good IVs is plenty. It helps to get a good Ditto early before you dedicate yourself to breeding so your next generation of Pokemon are good quality.

But really, once you’ve got a Ditto, you’re on easy streak for breeding. You can use the Battle Park Shop to purchase way more useful breeding items that increase certain stats, reset